Court orders reinstatement of ‘unlawfully’ dismissed 9 cadets

A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna has ordered the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) to reinstate nine cadets of 67 Regular Course ‘unlawfully’ dismissed by the Academy’s authorities after their presidential commissioning on 5th October, 2019 and award them their degrees.

The court also ordered the NDA to pay their accrued entitlement for the years under review.

Parents of the cadets led by Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Daura, the Maradin Daura in Katsina State, had dragged the Chief of Army Staff, the Minister of Defence, the Secretary to the State Government, Major General I. M Yusuf, NDA, the Chief of Defence Staff and three others to court after their wards were dismissed for allegedly holding a night party after their Passing out Parade officiated by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Delivering the 50-page judgment, the Presiding Judge, Justice Muhammad Umar, said the action taken by the academy to withdraw the cadets after their graduation was unconstitutional, unlawful and amounts to conviction to trial.

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The Judge said: “The plaintiffs are entitled to be heard before any disciplinary action can be taken against them and there is no place in the proceedings of the defendants that the plaintiffs were granted fair hearing by the NDA before their dismissal. This is unconstitutional.”

“The action of the defendants to withdraw the plaintiffs after their graduation is unconstitutional, unlawful and amounts to conviction of trial. The plaintiff should immediately be reinstated and their degrees and entitlements should be awarded and paid having participated in the PoP,” he said.

Speaking to the journalists after the judgment, counsel to the plaintiffs, Yunus Ustaz Usman SAN, said it was binding on the authorities concerned to obey the judgment of the court.

The defence counsel, Al-Amin Abubakar, said his clients will decide on the next step to take.

A father of one of the cadets, Alhaji Ibrahim Daura, who could not hide his joy, queried why the Service Chiefs and the Minister of Defence did not investigate the issue after writing a petition to them.